Entries in Breast Augmentation
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Courtesy Dr. Sharon McQuillan(NEW YORK) -- It is a medical claim that sounds like science fiction. Walk into a plastic surgeon’s office for a face-lift and walk out roughly four hours later with a whole-body makeover that required no incision and leaves you with no scars.

But some doctors say that fiction is now reality in the form of a stem-cell makeover, a procedure that uses the fat and stem cells from one part of the body to revamp another part of the body, all in a single office visit.

Such a claim convinced Debra Kerr to try the procedure herself in hopes of achieving a younger look. “My eyes are looking heavier, and the lines are so pronounced and gravity’s really taken over,” Kerr, 55, said. “I want to look as good and as young as I really feel.”

Kerr, a skin-care specialist from Ohio, underwent a stem-cell makeover in which fat was removed from her waist via liposuction. The fat was then spun in the lab to concentrate its stem cells and, hours later, injected into Kerr’s face and breasts.

“We’re taking a patient’s own fatty tissue, and we are just repositioning it in another part of their body,” said Dr. Sharon McQuillan, a physician and founder of the Ageless Institute in Aventura, Fla., where Kerr had her procedure done.

Because the makeover uses a patient’s own stem cells, there is virtually no risk that the body will reject the transfer, according to doctors like McQuillan who perform the procedure.

“This enhancement will be enough to make her [Kerr] happy,” McQuillan said. “She won’t have any scars. She doesn’t really have any of the risks associated with general anesthesia or a full face lift.”

The procedure takes roughly four hours and costs vary widely. McQuillan said some places on the West Coast and in New York City charge between $10,000 and $15,000 for the procedure.

Experts warn, however, that procedures such as stem-cell makeover need more study to prove that they are safe. Because the stem cells are harvested and inserted into the same patient, and only minimally manipulated in the process, they are not considered drugs and therefore not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Zoonar/Thinkstock(DETROIT) -- One plastic surgeon has given his patients yet another reason to give up cigarettes: Smoking could make their nipples fall off during cosmetic breast surgery.

When Dr. Anthony Youn, who practices in Detroit, warned his patients of this possible surgical outcome, he wasn’t just trying to scare them.

“I’ve actually seen it happen,” he told ABC News.

In his memoir, In Stitches, Youn described a smoker whose nipples began to turn dark purple during breast lift surgery, indicating that the tiny veins in her breasts were failing to keep blood flowing properly.

Cosmetic surgeries like breast lifts and breast reductions alter the blood flow to these body parts as it is. But Youn said the nicotine and carbon monoxide from cigarettes could strangle blood flow even more. Body parts that don’t receive blood flow turn from purple to black -- to dead, he said.

“Among plastic surgeons, this is a very well-known complication,” Youn said. “If patients don’t stop smoking for three to four weeks before and after the surgery, they put themselves at risk for major problems.”

The risk is not only for breast surgeries. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommends that patients stop smoking well in advance of any cosmetic procedure. In 2009, a report to the American College of Surgeons noted that smoking could complicate the management of anesthetic during any surgery and also hinder a patient’s recovery.

Youn said patients who didn’t kick their smoking habits while undergoing nips and tucks were at a high risk for wounds straight out of a horror movie.

Smoking can, for example, damage or kill the skin of the face after a face-lift, leaving exposed tissue. Smokers getting a tummy tuck could see the skin and fat of their abdomens die off, “leaving a big crater,” Youn said.

Even secondhand smoke could lead to these complications, which can result in months of recovery and a couple thousand dollars in extra medical expenses.

Youn said he found that the most effective way to get his patients to kick their smoking habit was to tell them the truth about these very real risks.

“Smokers are addicted, and unfortunately, in order to get them to stop smoking, sometimes you have to shock them,” Youn said. “And many of my patients say, ‘Thank you so much for telling me this because now I really am going to quit.’”